Adios manuel

[David_Yu]

No, not Andrew Sachs, he died ages ago.

But my tame BMW dealer, TRL, has just notified the baby BMW forum that BMW are cancelling all manual M140 and M240s effective JULY, so almost immediately and just a few months before the end of the current 1 series production.

So anybody wanting a RWD 6 pot turbot manual hot hatch/small coupe had better get their orders in sharpish!

Such a shame. Between, me, wifey and my cousin, we've bought five manual M Lites and wouldn't have it any other way. But then none of us live in London and have to commute, but I reckon even then I'd have chosen manual as I did with most of my daily drivers.

Clearly done on the altar of emissions, as is the strange decision to detune future X3 M40is, that are currently leaving the factory with 360hp.
And a recent recall of some recent ECUs.

I suspect BMW are trying to get ahead of their own emissions scandal. It is absolutely ridiculous to believe that VW were the only ones cheating the tests...

[Mr Pish]

such a shame

[Richard]

I wonder what the sales numbers were like?

I wouldn’t have really considered a manual BMW

[Carlos]

I wonder what the sales numbers were like?

I wouldn’t have really considered a manual BMW

We're all different, i've never owned an automatic including 4 BMW's and a Merc

[simon_g]

343 M135i/M140i on Autotrader.

265 autos, 78 manual - so a 77% / 23% (ish) split.

Manual never appealed to me in the slightest, and the auto was great.

[Orange Cola]

Manuals have been dying out for a while now, the autos have upped their game over the last ten or so years so it's no surprise really.

[JLv3.0]

it's more down to the fact that people are increasingly becoming limp-wristed dickless morons who can't change gear for themselves like real men.

[mik]

Print that!

[Marv]

I don't understand why people with no interest in driving, buy cars with manual 'boxes.

[David_Yu]

In don't understand why people with no interest in driving, buy cars with manual 'boxes.

[David_Yu]

343 M135i/M140i on Autotrader.

265 autos, 78 manual - so a 77% / 23% (ish) split.

Manual never appealed to me in the slightest, and the auto was great.

Having looked at the stats, it appears that only 18% of M140s were manual in 2017 and only 10% of M140 Shadow Editions were manual.
Given that the auto is faster, more economical and (previously) a whole tax band cheaper and I can see why there is no business case to retain the manual. Just surprised they did it before the end of the model.

I never even considered an auto. That engine deserves to have the interactivity of a manual, albeit it could do with a 7th gear for motorway cruising.
Oh well, looks like my next car will have to be a C7 ZR1. 750hp available with a 7 speed manual box...

[Zonda_]

In don't understand why people with no interest in driving, buy cars with manual 'boxes.

I have a huge interest in driving but I see manual boxes as old tech like carburettors and brake drums. The technology has moved on, if you belive pressing a pedal to change gear somehow makes you a better driver you're misguided. Does any motorsport have a clutch?

[240PP]

This might sound MENTAL but I love the auto in the Audi and also really like using the manual in her Ka.

[Marv]

I don't understand why people with no interest in driving, buy cars with manual 'boxes.

I have a huge interest in driving but I see manual boxes as old tech like carburettors and brake drums. The technology has moved on, if you belive pressing a pedal to change gear somehow makes you a better driver you're misguided. Does any motorsport have a clutch?

Alot of cheap cars still have drum brakes at the rear!

I agree, changing gears using a clutch lever and gearstick doesn't make you a better driver, but it is a skill to be honed, and does bring in a level of interaction with a car which pulling back a couple of paddles doesn't quite match.

Though I like manuals, autos and DSGs and everything in-between.

Anyway, give it long enough and gearboxes are going to be obsolete technology.

[Jobbo]

Pulling the choke out and pushing it back at the right time, mixture adjustment levers: both skills to be gained and utterly irrelevant now.

Gears themselves are only a product of small operating bands of engines.

[JLv3.0]

if you belive pressing a pedal to change gear somehow makes you a better driver you're misguided. Does any motorsport have a clutch?

In turn:

1. No-one has ever said it makes you a better driver. Some people enjoy changing gears themselves - don't over-think it.

2. I imagine every car with an internal combustion engine and a drivetrain has a clutch, yes, as the wheels would turn when the engine is running otherwise. But that wasn't your point, was it. What they use in motorsport to gain a few milliseconds is irrelevant to me.

As for the normal man-with-flags and we-don't-use-chokes-any-more either - get a grip boys - or did you really hate changing gears yourself that much that you breathed a collective sigh of relief when you no longer had to bother with such an odious chore?

Hey - if you find driving so utterly hateful, just get the bus everywhere? BOOM! Solved!

[Rich B]

Don’t worry, they’re not a million miles off perfecting fully auto driving - so we won’t have to undertake any of the horrid chores associated with driving soon.

Why anyone would want a big round wheel and a whole host of foot pedals and levers to control when a computer will be able to do it far more efficiently is beyond me....

[JLv3.0]

Steering wheels?! Pah! Totally outdated! May as well have a man with a flag walking in front of the car

[ / supposed driving enthusiasts ]

[V8Granite]

people want to do more than drive. Which is why everyone is an app or phone connectivity away from a distraction and accident.

Seemingly people can’t pull away from a petrol station without popping a phone in a cradle, pressing a multitude of buttons and then staring at it while pulling away. They then put the seatbelt on as that’s not the most important part

I drove back from Cardiff last night and it was amazing the amount of idiots fiddling with phones and generally not concentrating. The best method is to sit at 90 and be past them before they realise anyone else is on the roads. Expecting them to also change gears is a stretch.

Dave!

[JLv3.0]

Personally I hate tyres as well now - totally outdated and useless as a result of it. Maglev is where it's at.